Sunday Roundup: Lobos fall in conference title game

It was a rough Sunday for both of Albuquerque’s baseball teams as the New Mexico Lobos lost in the Mountain West Tournament final and the Albuquerque Isotopes stumbled in Nashville.

San Diego State 9, No. 13 New Mexico 4: In Fresno, for the second day in a row the Lobos had no answer for the Aztecs, who claimed the MWC’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

UNM (37-20) will have to hope for an at-large bid after first losing 8-7 on Saturday night to force a second game.

This time around the Lobos briefly took a 2-1 lead in the fourth inning on Jared Holley’s sacrifice fly that scored Josh Melendez.

The Aztecs (31-29) took the lead for good in the fifth on Tyler France’s two-run double and Matt Munoz’s RBI single to go up 4-2. Danny Sheehan’s RBI single in the sixth provided some insurance.

UNM nearly rallied in the eighth on a two-out, RBI single by Alex Allbritton and an RBI double by Jared Meek, but Allbritton was thrown out at home trying to score on Meek’s hit, denying the Lobos the tying run.

SDSU put the game away in the ninth as France hit a leadoff home run, Brad Haynal added an RBI double and Jake Romanski smoked a two-run homer.

UNM went down in order in the ninth.

Philip Walby (5-3) earned the win as he allowed just two runs in five innings. Lobos starter A.J. Carman lasted just 2.1 innings and did not factor in the decision. Jake McCasland (1-1) took the loss in relief as he gave up three runs in three innings.

The Lobos will gather at Doc and Eddy’s off San Mateo on Monday at 9:30 a.m. to watch the NCAA Selection Show.

Hellweg allowed just one run in six innings of work. He scattered two hits, walked four and struck out five.

Khris Davis homered with one out in the seventh to give the Sounds (14-34) what would prove to be the winning run.

The Isotopes (25-25) almost rallied in the ninth off closer Rob Wooten. Chili Buss and Rusty Ryal hit back-to-back singles to start the inning, only to see Jeremy Moore and Justin Sellers both strike out swinging.

Pinch hitter Tony Gwynn Jr. was able to sneak a single up the middle to score Buss. Wooten then struck out Matt Wallach for his sixth save.

Nashville jumped out early on Hunter Morris’ leadoff home run in the second inning and Josh Prince’s RBI groundout in the third.

Wallach cut the lead in half with a one-out, solo home run in the fifth.

Blake Johnson (4-3) took the loss as he allowed two runs on eight hits and two walks while striking out six in six innings.